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Turns out there's this chic market filled to the brim with vintage goods called Junk Bonanza that was being held just a half hour from St. Paul the same weekend I was attending The Creative Connection. Lucky for me, the lovely Leigh Standley had extra room in her van for me to tag along for this treasure hunt.

We bought the early bird tickets to avoid the crazy crowds & score the best finds.

I love the repurposing of this seat spring.

So many different collections of all kinds and displayed so creatively too! It was hard not to indulge knowing I was limited to a suitcase.

Michelle scored a sweet letter A to pay homeage to her last name - Allen

Leigh & Michelle were capturing images with their snazzy SLR cameras. I'm very tempted to add one around my neck, but for now this slim point & shoot will do.

With summer vacations behind us and fall schedules getting into a groove, Steve & I thought it was a fine time to reconnect with our neighbors & hear all about thier summer adventures.

So I dropped these invites in their mailboxes a couple of weeks ago & we had a fine fall party last Sunday. (Not realizing that the 1st Lion's game was also on at this time, I made sure to have our television tuned to the channel for score updates throughout the afternoon. GO LIONS!)

Since tomatos & basil are so tasty right now, I made a few of these delish skewers to add to the appetizer selection.

So many of the neighbors thanked us for hosting this little get-together and it was soooo easy to make it happen. All you need is a few chairs, card tables (covered with cute tablecloths helps:-), some random weeds/flowers placed in flower vases/jars, a few of your favorite beverages on ice, paper plates, plastic forks & napkins. And voila... you've got an afternoon of getting to know your neighbors a bit better!

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After soaking in the sun at South Haven for 5 days, we made a quick stop in Holland on the way back to Detroit. This town has some of the cutest shops around including the oh-so-sweet Karla's Place. You know a shop is going to be lovely when you see this motto behind their checkout.

In Karla's words... "I can't describe myself as a mountain climbing, bungee-jumpin' kind of gal, but I would describe myself as adventuresome. I have found the biggest adventure is to live the life of my dreams. I encourage others to consider, 'If failure wasn't an option, what would I do?' It's amazing what you can learn about yourself when doing what you really, really, really want to do. Creating Karla's Place has been a great experience allowing me to learn each day, show my creativity, listen to others' stories, and encourage others to be fearless. It's not what you 'do' or the title that defines you, but what you are 'doing' in your community and in your own life that makes for an exceptional life."

No doubt that Karla is a artsy girly-girl with a vintage flair. Her display style is dynamite & her collection of goodies (many of them handmade) are hard to resist. I picked up a recycled t-shirt flower head band that I've already worn a handful of times :-)

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Since Steve & I grew up in the Grand Rapids area, we've always been partial to the beach towns of West Michigan. So this year we decided to rent a little spot in downtown South Haven. We found this 2 bedroom place just a few blocks from the beach & downtown. It's fairly easy to slip into living the good life & we really enjoyed our 5 days of get-away.

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A BIG THANK YOU to all our firefly fans who voted us Best Gift Shop for the 5th year in a row. And KUDOS to our amazing team who makes our whimsical world a wonderful place to visit every day of the week.

No doubt, we were born to boogie. Cheers to another year of making days brighter!

Child Life Projects Specialist, Deanna Scanlon shared, "Just wanted to let you know that Valentine's Day here at the Children's Hospital of Michigan was a HUGE success! Thank you so much! We have managed to give away most of the cards so far! So many patients, families and the staff had made positive comments! It's just awesome! It would not have been possible without your efforts! You are truly appreciated! Happy Valentine's day to you!"

One of the many fun parts of my job is getting to travel to trade shows twice a year. Not only do I get to scout out fabulous new goodies for catching fireflies & sell my ai paper goods to stores across the US, but I also get to catch up with my oh-so-talented artist friends.